The Ottawa Senators held their own version of the Battle of Quebec on Tuesday night.

The good news it was only the preseason.

The Senators closed out their five-day stay in picturesque Quebec City with an ugly 5-0 loss to the arch-rival Montreal Canadiens at Centre Videotron.

There is no cause for concern because a week from now, this loss won’t matter one bit, but the Senators weren’t very good in any way, shape or form. Yes, it was that bad.

BATTLING FOR SPOT
The game did some fireworks early in the third and late in the second as both teams tried to send messages.

The Habs won’t be the least bit pleased that top winger Ivan Demidov left in the third after being slashed by Nick Cousins.

The Senators and Habs will close out the pre-season on Saturday night at the Bell Centre, and we could see some messages being sent.

Centre Jan Jenik tried to make an impression by dropping the gloves against Florian Xhekaj in the first. Then, midway through the second Jenik fought Jayden Struble. A right to face from Struble left Jenik bloody and headed to the dressing room for repairs.

That was all part of a melee set off by Hayden Hodgson with 3:07 left in the second after boarding Montreal’s Alex Newhook. Zack MacEwen was also involved and Jenik took the worst of it.

Somehow, Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj didn’t get anything for his fight with MacEwen, but it’s pre-season for the referees as well.

Most of the boys on the bubble suited up for this one.

Forwards Olle Lycksell, Arthur Kaliyev, and MacEwen are all pushing for spots on the roster, especially with injuries to veteran centre Lars Eller and winger Drake Batherson.

Lycksell has been the most impressive of that group. The 26-year-old was signed to a two-way deal from the Philadelphia Flyers on July 2nd, and has shown through the pre-season that he can be reliable.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a great night for anyone.

THE BACKUP PLAN
Leevi Merilainen started with a plan to play the full game.

The Senators will need Merilainen to play 30-to-35 times this season behind Linus Ullmark if the club is going to make the playoffs. The schedule will be compressed with the Winter Olympics in February.

He had an 8-3-1 record when Ullmark was injured last season, which has earned him the backup job this season. He doesn’t have to be a superstar; he just has to be consistent.

The Habs pulled out to a 3-0 lead on Alexandre Carrier’s effort at 6:53 of the second. Lane Hutson and Kirby Dach put it away in the third.

Merilainen had no chance on Patrik Laine’s powerplay goal at 13:46 of the second to give the Habs a 2-0 lead. Laine one-timed a pass home from the right circle as it beat Merilainen on the blocker side.

Giving up early goals has been a bad habit for this team, and it has got to change this season. That wasn’t to be on this night as Montreal’s Oliver Kapenen opened the scoring on the second shot at 4:48 of the first.

Kapenen took a pass in the slot untouched to beat Merilainen.

TOP SIX SHUFFLE
The top line of captain Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutlzle and Claude Giroux were among those who sat this one out.

That meant the top line was made up of Dylan Cozens, David Perron and Fabian Zetterlund. Veteran Nick Cousins played with Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio because Ridly Greig sat this one out.

Zetterlund had a good chance taken away early in the second that resulted in a powerplay for Ottawa. He has to be able to capitalize on chances this season because the club is counting on him to deliver offence.

You have to like Zetterlund because he’s strong and he’s got good skills. It would appear the club is trying to see if Zetterlund can build some chemistry with Cozens with Drake Batherson out.

We’re not going to worry about the offence yet, but the Senators have to do a better job capitalizing on their chances.